Client convicted of murdering Tiananmen Square “hero” lawyer who refused representation
Criminal Justice
Client convicted for murdering Tiananmen Square ‘hero’ lawyer who refused to continue representation
September 24, 2024, 11:19 am CDT
Immigration lawyer Jim Li had been jailed for 22 months in China after he participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. (Photo by Jiri Tondl, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
A New York woman was convicted of murder Friday for fatally stabbing her immigration lawyer in March 2022, three days after police escorted her from the law office for a choking attack.
Xiaoning Zhang, 27, of Queens in New York City killed 66-year-old lawyer Jim Li after he dropped her as a pro bono asylum client, according to a Sept. 20 press release by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz in New York City.
Law.com has coverage.
Li had been jailed for 22 months in China after he participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, according to prior news coverage. He applied for asylum in the United States back in 1993. “We extend our condolences, both to Mr. Li’s family members and friends in the legal profession and around the globe.”
Zhang was allegedly enraged after Li told her he couldn’t remove a photo of the protest she had staged at the United Nations from the internet. Zhang admitted to prosecutors that she had lied about being raped in China by police on her asylum application. Li told Zhang he couldn’t represent her anymore.
Zhang reacted by “grabbing Li by the throat and choking” him, according to the press statement. Zhang was escorted out of the building by police and told not to return.
Zhang returned armed with two knives on March 14, 2022. She stabbed Li repeatedly in the chest and neck, prosecutors said.
Zhang was convicted of murder in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, menacing in the third degree, criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, and harassment in the second degree.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 2. Zhang could face a sentence ranging from 25 years to life.
